John Rogers

About Me

Preamble

I'm typing this on the morning of 4/4/13. The first day of my butt in a seat in an Evergreen classroom was 4/3/13.

• I'm 50 years old
• I retired from the military after 22+ years almost exactly four years ago
• I'm rated as 90% disabled by the Veteran's Administration for a number of physical ailments as well as major depressive disorder
• I live with my wife of 22 years, my four year old grandson, two boxers, and one tortoise in a residential area in Shelton

My guess is that I'm a fairly atypical Evergreen student.

Why I'm Back in School

Frankly, I'm back in school because it was the fastest way to replace some lost income.  While I was transitioning out of the military I was asked to take over the marketing for a small software company, and after four months was made an equal partner to the two software developers who started the company.  In Fall 2012 we were hit with a problem that ultimately resulted in about a 75% decrease in monthly sales revenue.  That loss of revenue was virtually overnight, and after several months we still weren't able to resolve the issue.  Long story short, the founder of the company and I removed ourselves and turned everything over to the second software developer.  

After starting several projects of my own that didn't gain traction quickly enough to satisfy me, I decided to use my GI Bill and return to school which would replace about 35% of my lost income.

Why I Chose Evergreen

Evergreen was a no-brainer of a choice for me.  It's less than a 30 minute drive, and I didn't want a typical listen to lectures/write papers/take mid-term and finals type of educational experience. Been there, done that, refuse to go back to it.  I know several Evergreen alumni in my age group who have shared their experiences with me and recommended the school.  Ten years ago or so, a MSW friend and I had a long semi-drunken hot tub conversation about life in general, and during the course of that conversation he told me that I should attend Evergreen.

My primary choice for coursework is Eastern psych, but being a late registrant for the Spring quarter left me few choices.  Those choices forced me to review what was left in depth, and Civic Intelligence sounded by far the most interesting.